London has been battered by 50mph winds that have felled trees and caused travel chaos. Powerful gusts swept across the capital as the Met Office issued a yellow "be aware" weather alert for most of the country.

The UK recovery slowed last month, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research said today.

The think-tank estimated the economy grew 0.7% in the three months to October compared with 0.8% in the quarter to September.

Its estimates suggest the economy is still 2.3% below its pre-recession peak, and will not regain all the output lost in the downturn until 2015.

Advisers appointed for Poundland float

Poundland is a step closer to listing on the stock market at a value of around £700 million after private-equity owner Warburg Pincus appointed Credit Suisse, JPMorgan and Rothschilds to advise on a flotation.

Bosses hope to complete the float early next year as chairman Andrew Higginson has been sounding out institutional investors in the City.

£160m Adecco sees a recovery pointer

Adecco, the world’s biggest recruitment agency, today said demand for temporary workers was soaring as companies look for flexibility to weather a volatile recovery.

The Swiss firm’s profits rose 61% to €191 million (£160 million). Firms tend to hire temporary workers at the start of a recovery before committing to full-time staff.

Toyota on the road to a profits record

Toyota is closing in on the record profits it made before the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008.

Buoyed by the weak yen and the recovery in the US economy, the Japanese carmaker said it expects to make a 1.67 trillion yen (£10.5 billion) net profit this year, against a previous forecast of 1.48 trillion yen. That is just shy of the record 1.72 trillion yen net profit it made in the year ending March 2008.